SMR Archive – Page 203 – Posts from old SMR Website

Lavender

Lavender (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Lavender
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive
Morph Type: Single Recessive Mutation

Eye Color: Red pupil & body ground colored iris (see details below about some having black pupils)

There are several distinct features among Lavender mutants of any variety. One baffling characteristic common in the Lavender mutation is that most of them have eye pupils that are some shade of pink – virtually identical to most albino (Amel) corn snakes. Nobody yet knows why but some have black pupils. Another feature in most Lavender corns is that virtually all of them hatch smaller in size than any other corn snake mutation. What they lack in hatchling size they make up for in appetite. Not so much that they are ravenous feeders (they actually ARE), but collectively relative to all other corn snake mutations, Lavenders statistically favor pinky mice more than any other corns we produce. Our adult Lavender types are essentially the same size as other corn snake morphs, even though they start out so tiny. Many lavenders resemble Ghost corn snakes, as babies and adults.

What to expect:

Most hatchlings are some shade of pale lavender or gray, and as detailed above, they are the tiniest hatchlings in the corn snake hobby. Some have peach tones between markings, while some have pale and are lacking in contrast between markings and ground color zones. Through maturity, most will keep their basic neonate coloration, but unlike most corns whose colors become more saturated with age, Lavender types almost always lost color saturation through maturity. It is difficult to discern between basic lavenders and Hypo Lavenders, since there is a distinct lack of melanin in both. Most have red pupils, but for genetic reasons we don’t yet understand, some have black pupils. I’ve seen other morphs that were virtually identical to most adult lavenders, so distinguishing between them is not easy without a genetic family history. Unless Lavenders are bi-colored (having a peach or coral ground color between dorsal markings), they are highly variable in color. Expect everything from pale gray to lavender.

Important Note:
The advertising images on our web site are representations of the average adult example of each morph. These images are not renderings of the actual animals being offered, (except for uniquely offered snakes found in the SURPLUS section of this web site). We do not provide pictures of individual hatchling snakes for sale, nor do we recommend that you ever choose a new pet based on an image of its neonatal form. Corns change so dramatically from hatchling to adult, they will NEVER have the same colors or contrasts throughout maturity. While most of the snakes we produce will mature to resemble the featured adult image(s) on our web site, unlike manufactured products that are respectively clones of each other, the nature of polygenic variation results in each animal being similar but not identical to others of its morph. The snake we select for you may not mature to be identical to the pictured examples, but will be chosen based on our experience of observing which neonates will mature to properly represent their respective morph. We take this responsibility very seriously, and therefore publish the guarantee that we will exchange your SMR snake if it does not mature to be like our advertised examples.

Hybino – aka: Hypo Amel

Hybino (aka: Hypo Amel)
Most Commonly Used Name: Hypo Amel
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: recessive
Morph Type: Double Mutation compound (Amel + Hypo A)

Eye Color: Red pupil

This compound recessive morph results from combining the two recessive color mutations, Amel and Hypo A. Many snake morphs are called Hybinos, but this term for snakes that are both Hypo and Amel is seldom used in the corn snake hobby. The main reason is that the homozygous version of this double gene mutation is sometimes virtually impossible to discern from typical Amels. Most of ours have more deeply saturated colors in both markings and ground color zones. Therefore, we feel that the morph name Hybino is appropriate.

What to expect:

Hatchlings often look like Sunglow corns (selectively bred Amel corns that have more highly concentrated orange/red coloration). Adults should be more color saturated than most Amel corns.

High White Reverse Okeetee-12

High White Reverse Okeetee (aka: High White Corn)
Most Commonly Used Name: High White Reverse Okeetee
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive + Selective Variation

Morph Type: Selective variant of single recessive mutation

Eye Color: Red pupil

High White Reverse Okeetees are variants of the basic Reverse Okeetee mutants (Amel is the only mutation known to exist in this morph). Genetically speaking, Reverse Okeetees are Amel corns that have been selectively bred to promote their target look (Highly saturated blotch colors, separated from clean and unstippled ground coloration by prominent white blotch margins). High Whites are selectively bred variants of Reverse Okeetees – toward the target phenotype of having the cleanest white ground coloration. Since the only mutation they possess is Amel, the obvious distinction between any Reverse Okeetee and the average Amel corn is the distinctive color scheme. Red or orange markings are not difficult to reproduce through generational line breeding, but the white background color is very difficult to achieve, and sometimes difficult to maintain through subsequent generations. The white background and red (or orange) markings have been enhanced via polygenetic traits, modified through selective promotion of only the best target phenotypes. While we have greatly reduced the orange coloration in the ground color zones, even our best High Whites show a blush of orange between markings, especially on the first 1/3 of the body. High White refers to the predominantly white ground color zones, but some also have atypically broad white blotch margins.

When breeding two Hifh White Reverse Okeetees together, because they are Amel mutants, you are assured of getting 100% amels, but factoring in the variability of the interactions between genes (polygenetics) means that not necessarily all the offspring will be marketable High Whites. We cull out the ones that do not satisfy our quality standards for High White Reverse Okeetee color and pattern, and those are sold as Reverse Okeetee corns.

What to expect:

As neonates, all High Whites are shockingly red or orange on white, but expect neonates and adults to exhibit slight amounts of pale orange ground color between markings, relegated mostly to the front part of the body. I don’t recall ever seeing one that was completely devoid of color litter over the entire ground zones, but we’re getting closer to that with each generation. If our High White Reverse Okeetee corns did not have such thick white borders, they would be perfect candy canes. Some of the hatchlings displaying orange markings mature to have redder markings, and some of those starting with red markings change to orange. About 75% of all our red ones stay red, and about the same percentage of the orange marked ones stay orange.

Important Note:
These images are not renderings of the actual animals being offered, (except for uniquely offered snakes found in the SURPLUS section of this web site). We do not provide pictures of individual hatchling snakes for sale, nor do we recommend that you ever choose a new pet based on an image of its neonatal form. Corns change so dramatically from hatchling to adult, they will NEVER have the same colors or contrasts throughout maturity. While most of the snakes we produce will mature to resemble the featured adult image(s) on our web site, unlike manufactured products that are respectively clones of each other, the nature of polygenic variation results in each animal being similar but not identical to others of its morph. The snake we select for you may not mature to be identical to the pictured examples, but will be chosen based on our experience of observing which neonates will mature to properly represent their respective morph. We take this responsibility very seriously, and therefore publish the guarantee that we will exchange your SMR snake if it does not mature to be like our advertised examples.

Granite – aka: Diffused Anery

Granite (aka: Anery Bloodred, Anery Blood, Diffused Anery)
Most Commonly Used Name: Granite
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive
Morph Type: Mutation Compound ( Anery + Diffused)

Eye Color: Black pupil & body ground colored iris (usually silver)

Go to History for more details about the DIFFUSED / BLOODRED base mutation of this compound morph.

This compound morph results from combining the color mutation, Anery with the pattern mutation Diffused. As with most morph compounds that include Diffused, the Granite mutations color effect is greatly diffused (markings often barely visible). Except for some of the color and pattern variants of this mutation compound. Male Granite Corns are usually more colorful than females, demonstrating a wash of many different soft colors (e.g. coral, pink, yellow, tan).

What to expect:
Many Granite hatchlings look like little more than regular Anery Corns, but the head should have some form of Bloodred/Diffused head pattern, and the belly will be devoid of classic Anery Corn snake black & white checkering. The belly pattern can have colors – and even pattern – but not organized checkering. Carotenoid yellow – retained from diet – is common in this mutation compound and often contributes to interesting color combinations.

Coral Ghost

First, a brief history of the Coral-type Corns:

Back in the 1980s when corn snake herpetoculture was in its’ infancy, Snow corns that had a pink or coral cast were called Coral Snows. Early in Corn Snake Herpetoculture, Snow corns were not as variable in color as they are toDAY. At the time when pink/coral ones were dubbed Coral Snows, it was only common to see snows in two tones of white; crisp white (aka: bone white Snows), or Coral. Back then, prediction of the coral coloration was hit-and-miss (some would start out with a blush of pink, but turn white on white) so in the absence of genetic data to explain the origin of the pink and/or coral colors, the name Coral became somewhat obscure from the hobby for many years. After that era, Jim Stelpflug at Southwest Wisconsin Reptiles was one of the first to predictably reproduce coral colored snows, and even though pinkish snows were still seen in the hobby, Jim was reliably reproducing them – and was even able to intensify the coral coloration in most. At that time, we mistakenly believed the gene mutation responsible for pink or coral colored snows was the result of Snow corns that also possessed the Hypo A mutation. While some pink or coral colored Snows that were also Hypo mutants DID show a blush of pink, their pink cast rarely intensified to be remarkable in appearance, as is the case with Coral Snow Mutants of toDAY. Pink and Green Snows were not rare back then, and some of those demonstrated deeply saturated pink coloration. Again, the origin of that phenotype was (and to an extent, still is) poorly understood. In so much as most of the early Coral Snows originated from Jim Stelpflug at SWR (Southwest Wisconsin Reptiles), it appeared obvious that some mutation he had in his genetic inventory was causing his to be more colorful than others. The exaggerated pink/coral coloration is now believed by some to be the demonstration of the dominant-type mutation (Strawberry) that was also discovered/developed by Jim Stelpflug. This is believed to be THE color mutation responsible for the rich colors, if not ONE OF such mutations. I have not personally had reproductive results to validate this theory, and in a hobby that has so very many hidden mutations, perhaps Strawberry is just one of such mutations to cause such colors? Breeding trials are still ongoing in discovering more about this interesting (if not mysterious) mutation. It is not mysterious in terms of inheritance, but in that some non-Strawberry corns can exhibit similar colors – without being Coral/Strawberry mutants. It is not a given that every corn snake displaying inordinate amounts of pink or coral is a Strawberry mutant, but so far, breeding trials between the three most notable Coral Snow types (Salmon, Champagne, and Neon) have demonstrated that they are all at least elementally allelic (breeding any combintion of the three morphs renders Snow corns that have extreme saturation of pink, coral, or both). Hence, there may be other gene mutations or gene modifiers involved in one or all of those morphs, but they at least share the same mutational foundation that causes them to look remarkably pink/coral – unlike classic white-on-white Snows.

The general conclusion in the corn snake industry at this time is that any Snow corn that is also a Strawberry Mutant (thereby exhibiting a color predominance of pink and/or coral) is a Coral Snow. Any additional refrence to familial origins (i.e. Salmon, Champagne, or Neon) is merely a lineage descriptor that may prove valuable if and when it is determined that one or more of those bloodlines actually possesses additional mutations, or strongly influencing polygenic traits.

Ghost

Ghost (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Ghost
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive
Morph Type: Mutation Compound (Anery + Hypo A)

Eye Color: Black pupil & body ground colored iris (usually silver or pale blue)

This compound recessive morph results from combining the two recessive color mutations, Anery and Hypo A. The finished genetic product reminds one of a pale or “ghostly” version of the Anery mutation (which of course, is precisely what it is).

What to expect:

Hatchlings are essentially miniatures of their adult form, unlike most corn snake mutations that dramatically morph from hatchling to adult. Like many Anery types, the carotenoid yellow retained from their diet – manifests with maturity, therefore, will not be seen in the neonates. Some will acquire more yellow than others. Like their Anery counterparts, adult males have an overall coloration of earth tones, but females very rarely exhibit such coloration. Most adult females are varying shades of gray and black, while males are usually anything between tan and brown in color overtones. Of course, there are exceptions where some males will not have earth tones and some females will. Such exceptions are very rare in the base mutation, Anery.

2010-WAYNE

For Wayne

Priced at $110.00 to reflect the $15 savings for pick up – vs. shipping.

It will charge you $35.00 for shipping, so by pricing it at $110, you are accurately assessed tax PLUS the discount for customer pick up.

Total = $145.76 ($110 + $20 + $15.76 tax)

05-08-12

Gold Dust – aka: Caramel Ultramel

INTERSPECIES HYBRID

Gold Dust (aka: golddust)

Most Commonly Used Name: Gold Dust
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Codominant (Ultramel) & Recessive (Caramel)
Morph Type: Mutation Compound – recessive & codominant

Note: Ultramel is the heterozygote of the the mutation, Ultra.

Eye Color: Dark Red or black pupil & body ground colored iris

See ULTRamel for an explanation of the genetic mechanics of the ULTRA codominant mutation.

Note: Ultramel is the heterozygote of the the mutation, Ultra.

INTERSPECIES HYBRID

The founder (discoverer) of the Ultra mutation states that he originally paired a gray rat snake with a corn snake, in the discovery of this mutation. By the time most of us were made aware of the HYBRID origins of Ultra types (originally named Ultra Hypos), we had already bred it into many other corn snake mutations. It was therefore collectively decided that in so much as it would be virtually impossible to track down (and eliminate) each and every snake containing the Ultra gene (surely thousands of individuals in the collections of hundreds of breeders and keepers), the mutation would be treated like other pure corns. In so much as it generally did not alter the corn snake appearance, it was known that even if peoples’ snakes had the Ultra gene mutation, they would either be unaware or could avoid mentioning it. Those of you out there that are boycotting HYBRID corns are advised to avoid acquisition of suspicious-looking corns with the word ULTRA in the morph description. Likewise, purists that admirably endeavor to promote only the genetically purest of corns are urged to question corns that have suspiciously abnormal features that have been historically identified as hybrid markers. Not that all such markers are proof of alien origins. Especially because of the difficulty and expense of formulating a DNA base line for all North American colubrid snake species, and in the absence of expensive DNA testing to identify authenticity of pure corns, without obvious visual and/or genetic distinctions, identification of legitimately pure (or impure) corns is difficult at this time, if not completely impossible.

Other than appearance, the primary (and inherent) value of Ultra Type Corns (Ultras and Ultramels and their color and pattern compounds) is their mode of inheritance. Since they are dominant to wild type, pairing any Ultra Type to ANY Amel corn (or Het thereof) will render Ultra types in the F¹ (first) generation of out-crossing to non-Ultra type corns. The results of pairing an Ultra-type with a non-Amel corn (or Het thereof) will render Mendelian results that parallel recessively-inherited mutations; no Ultra-types will result and all progeny will be Het for Ultra.

Other than appearance, the primary (and inherent) value of Ultra Type Corns (Ultras and Ultramels and their color and pattern compounds) is their mode of genetic inheritance. Since they are co-dominant to Amelanistics, pairing any Ultra Type to ANY Amel corn (or Het thereof) will render Ultra types in the F¹ (first) generation of out-crossing to non-Ultra type corns. The results of pairing an Ultra-type with a non-Amel corn (or Het thereof) will render Mendelian results that parallel recessively-inherited mutations; no Ultra-types will result and all progeny will be Het for Ultra when bred to non-Amels.

The Gold Dust corn is the aggregate of the heterozygous version of the Ultra codominant mutation, Ultramel and the recessively inherited color mutation, Caramel. In as much as it is not simple to distinguish between some homozygous versions of the Ultra gene mutation and the heterozygous versions, Ultramel, like most breeders, unless we know for sure that we are selling Ultra Caramels, we market both versions as Gold Dust corns. Therefore, you are assured of getting at least a Gold Dust, but it may alternately be an Ultra Caramel.

What to expect:

As neonates, both Ultra Caramel and Gold Dust are very similar, but unlike their Ultramel cousins, distinction via eye pupil color is fairly revealing in the first weeks following hatching. The eye pupils of most Gold Dusts are ruby or wine-colored, but like Ultramels, the pupils darken with maturity, and are virtually black in most adults. The iris should be a close match to the general ground coloration of the snake.

Neonates are more gold colored than their adult counterparts, that often have the intensely yellow color of their Butter cousins. Except for dark pupils, I have some adult Gold Dusts that are virtually identical to most Butter or Amber corns. Some adults retain the black blotch margins, while others are devoid of any black scales.

Fluorescent

Fluorescent (aka: Fluorescent Orange)
Most Commonly Used Name: Fluorescent
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive + Selective Variation
Morph Type: Selective variant of single recessive mutation

Eye Color: Red pupil

Genetically speaking, Fluorescent corns are Amel corns that have been selectively bred to promote their target look (red or orange blotches on an orange background, with separating white blotch margins). Since the only mutation they possess is Amel, the obvious distinction between Fluorescents and the average Amel corn is the distinctive color scheme. Fluorescent corns are similar to Reverse Okeetees, but differ by having more solid blotches and ground color zones, and a more shocking color contrast between white blotch margins and adjacent colors. Many Reverse Okeetees have cluttered color zones with obvious litter of white and/or different color stippling. Fluorescents have more saturated and un-littered color zones. Our Fluorescent corns have less red in them, since their origins are from novel high-color Okeetees mixed with clean Amel corns, but infusion of the Red Mask Mutation is showing promising results, in the realm of altering the orange markings to be more red ones. SMR Fluorescents and Reverse Okeetees are not hybrids of any other species.

What to expect:

Neonate Fluorescent corns vary little from their adult counterparts, with the usual exception of being more color saturated at maturity. Expect to see little color or white clutter in all color zones, and thicker white blotch borders than typical Amel corns. Colors can vary from one specimen to another, but all have more deeply saturated oranges and less reds than their Reverse Okeetee counterparts.

Creamsicle

INTERSPECIES HYBRID !

Creamsicle (no aka)

Most Commonly Used Name: Creamsicle

Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive corn snake Amel + Emory’s Rat Snake

Morph Type: Single recessive HYBRID Mutation

Eye Color: Red pupil

Formerly considered an intergrade of what used to be two corn snake subspecies (Elaphe guttatus guttatus X Elaphe guttatus emoryi), Creamsicles are the final product of crossing an Emory’s Rat (aka: Great Plains Rat Snake) with an Amel corn. Since the new taxonomic classification assigns distinct species to each (Pantherophis emoryi and Pantherophis guttatus), in herpetocultural vernacular, Creamsicles are now officially considered hybrids. ANY progeny from Creamsicles or any corn snake that has any degree of Emory’s Rat Snake in it, is considered a HYBRID. The albinos are called Creamsicles and the non-albinos are often called Root Beers.

What to expect:

Hatchling Creamsicles are orange hybrid versions of Amel corns, so they can have any pattern you see in corn snakes. I’ve seen Creamsicles that were yellow on yellow, some that were orange on orange, and some that were red on orange – demonstrating the polygenic variability seen in all animals. Not unlike some hybrid snakes that can be selectively bred to eventually hide all visual traces of their alien ancestor, some Creamsicles are virtually identical to Amel corns. Creamsicles (and Root Beers) usually have what we call Hybrid Vigor (robust size and propensities for hardy appetites and rapid growth) from being out-crossed to unrelated snakes. We all hope that breeders will always reveal the genetic background of all their snakes, but I know people that have purchased obvious Creamsicles in pet stores and reptile expos, but were never advised of their hybrid origins.